Here we are – 2016!  And I am currently ON FIRE in keeping with my resolutions! (For what now, 5 days?!)

I went to a Yoga class this morning, and the theme was “Begin Again”.  Perfect!  So we have a new year, a new theme, a new look and hopefully a new podcast coming this year!

I’ve updated my concert calendar with some fun new shows, and hope to keep a diverse, eclectic show schedule as active as possible.  If you’re a musician or band and are playing in LA – please let me know! I’d love to cover it!

I also added the AlongTheRail photography portfolio.  Click on the link to the left to see some of my favorite photos.  Playing a show in LA and want me to shoot it? Drop me a line!

I also want to hear more from our readers.  What are some of your resolutions – Music related or otherwise?  What shows are you looking forward to in the coming months?  What albums can you not wait to hear? What EXCITES you about the new year?!

Music can be both an independent experience or a highly social and collaborative one. I like both and would be thrilled if a community could arise from these posts this year.  Follow the blog itself, via twitter, email.. Keep in touch and say hi!

And as always – I’m open to and eager to hear new music!  Send me stuff to alongtherailmusic@gmail.com!  Thanks so much to those who have submitted tracks.  We’ll be in touch!

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and musical new year! Thanks for reading!

ATR

Wow.  This is a great line up!

As usual, Lolla has some great variety in their acts, which brings a fun, diverse crowd.  Tickets are sold out, but you can stream the festival artists HERE.

I’ve updated my blog, it’s time to update my ears.  Calling all musicians, songwriters, composers, bands – any and all of you!  I’d love to hear your music!  I will listen to it, I’ll give you feedback IF you want it, and I’ll write about it if I like it!  This is a win/win – new music for me, hopefully more exposure for you.

If you’re in, send a link to alongtherail@gmail.com.  Or, you can tweet it to me at @alongtherail.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

“Where do you fall on the spectrum of sexuality?”

A question I’d never asked myself before, but now that I’ve heard Ryan Amador’s song “SPECTRUM”, I can’t stop asking myself that!

Ryan calls his genre “bio soul”,  and expresses himself through songs that are deep in thoughts about love, sex, and human nature itself.  He has a beautiful, crooning voice that belies his young age.

Though “SPECTRUM” is a super catchy, fun little ditty of a tune with a refrain that will stick with you for days, it’s lyrics present underlying questions and a premise that are quite profound.
The song also features wonderful contributions from Jo Lampert and Gyasi Ross.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3196158023/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=186551924/transparent=true/

Spectrum is on the collection of songs called “4S”, which as a whole beautifully captures Ryan’s range as a songwriter and singer.
His music elicits sadness, hope, love, loss, power and joy all at the same time.

Looking forward to a lot more from this talented singer / songwriter!

Check out more from Ryan here:
Ryan Amador homepage
Ryan Amador Facebook

Last weekend I went to my first annual NARIP networking brunch.  Wow – SO great!

NARIP stands for “National Association of Record Industry Professionals”.  They’re a wonderful organization for almost ANYONE involved in the music industry.

They have seminars, workshops, a job bank, A & R sessions – just to name a few of the wonderful career advancement opportunities.
Another feature are the monthly brunches – everyone in attendance gets 30 seconds to introduce themselves to the group.  I met SO many wonderful, talented musicians – many of which I will start profiling here on the blog.
The music business is ALL about networking and connecting with people – and NARIP is a great way to do it.

Check them out here: http://www.narip.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS!
I’m incredibly excited to be back and can’t wait to dive into a new year of music.
I have a music related resolution – I hope to see, hear, learn about, write about and enjoy more diverse  sounds this year..  Get some more variety into my musical “diet”.

CBS’ 60 Minutes this past weekend gave me the perfect launching point, as they did a story about the NYC production of ALIVE!  55+ and Kickin!

It’s musical theater in NYC, in which all of the performers are over 55 years old.  Many came to the open audition out of obscurity, finally able to pursue a life long dream.  Performers range in experience both on stage and in life.  Some have been working full time jobs their whole lives, dreaming of the spotlight one day, while others have served time in jail.
But wow- they can sing!

Taken from their website: “ALIVE is about the healing and transformative power of story and song.  With music ranging from gospel, to soul, to blues, to R&B, to pop and Broadway, ALIVE captures a wide spectrum of the total Black experience in sound.”

Here’s a link to the wonderful piece from 60 Minutes.  And here’s a link to the ALIVE website.
What an incredibly inspiring show.  It speaks to the power of people, and the healing and transformative power of music.   How great would it be to see these kinds of productions in more cities in the US?

Performances resume in the spring at the Dempsey Theater in NYC.  I HOPE I get to NYC to see this, and hope you do too!

I just stumbled upon a band from London called “Palace”.
They’ve got a dreamy, bluesy, alt-rock sound that is all things beautiful, moody and powerful.